Lest on the threshing-floor his hopeful sheaves
Prove chaff On the other side, Satan, alarm'd,
Collecting all his might, dilated stood,
Like Teneriffe or Atlas, unremov'd:
His stature reach'd the sky, and on his crest
Sat Horror plum'd; nor wanted in his grasp
What seem'd both spear and shield: now dreadful
deeds

Might have ensued, nor only Paradise
In this commotion, but the starry cope
Of Heaven perhaps, or all the elements
At least had gone to wrack, disturb'd and torn
With violence of this conflict, had not soon
The Eternal, to prevent such horrid fray,
Hung forth in Heaven his golden scales, yet seen
Betwixt Astrea and the Scorpion sign,
Wherein all things created first he weigh'd,
The pendulous round Earth with balanc'd air
In counterpoise, now ponders all events,
Battles and realms: in these he put two weights,
The sequel each of parting and of fight:
The latter quick up-flew, and kick'd the beam;
Which Gabriel spying, thus bespake the fiend.

"Satan, I know thy strength, and thou know'st
mine;

Such whispering wak'd her, but with startled eye
On Adam, whom embracing, thus she spake.

"O sole in whom my thoughts find all repose,
My glory, my perfection! glad I see
Thy face, and morn return'd; for I this night
(Such night till this I never pass'd) have dream'd,
If dream'd, not, as I oft am wont, of thee,
Works of day past, or morrow's next design,
But of offence and trouble, which my mind
Knew never till this irksome night: methought

Where thou art weigh'd, and shown how light, how Close at mine ear one call'd me forth to walk

weak

With gentle voice; I thought it thine: it said,
Why sleep'st thou, Eve? now is the pleasant time,
The cool, the silent, save where silence yields
To the night-warbling bird, that now awake
Tunes sweetest his love-labor'd song: now reigns
Full-orb'd the Moon, and with more pleasing light
Shadowy sets off the face of things; in vain,
If none regard: Heaven wakes with all his eyes,
Whom to behold but thee, Nature's desire ?

Neither our own, but given: what folly then
To boast what arms can do! since thine no more
Than Heaven permits, nor mine, though doubled

now

To trample thee as mire: for proof look up,
And read thy lot in yon celestial sign;

If thou resist." The fiend look'd up, and knew
His mounted scale aloft: nor more; but fled
Murmuring, and with him fled the shades of night.

BOOK V.

THE ARGUMENT.

And temperate vapors bland, which the only sound
Of leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan,
Lightly dispers'd, and the shrill matin song
Of birds on every bough; so much the more
His wonder was to find unwaken'd Eve
With tresses discompos'd, and glowing cheek,
As through unquiet rest: he, on his side,
Leaning half rais'd, with looks of cordial love
Hung over her enamor'd, and beheld
Beauty, which, whether waking or asleep,
Shot forth peculiar graces; then with voice
Mild, as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,
Her hand soft touching, whisper'd thus: "Awake,
My fairest, my espous'd, my latest found,
Heaven's last best gift, my ever-new delight!
Awake: the morning shines, and the fresh field
Calls us; we lose the prime, to mark how spring
Our tender plants, how blows the citron grove,
What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed,
How Nature paints her colors, how the bee
Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet."

Morning approached, Eve relates to Adam her In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment troublesome dream; he likes it not, yet comforts Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.' her: they come forth to their day-labors: their I rose as at thy call, but found thee not; morning hymn at the door of their bower. God, To find thee I directed then my walk; to render man inexcusable, sends Raphael to And on, methought, alone I pass'd through ways admonish him of his obedience, of his free estate, That brought me on a sudden to the tree of his enemy near at hand, who he is, and why Of interdicted knowledge: fair it seem'd, his enemy, and whatever else may avail Adam to Much fairer to my fancy than by day: know. Raphael comes down to Paradise; his And, as I wondering look'd, beside it stood appearance described; his coming discerned by One shap'd and wing'd like one of those from Adam afar off sitting at the door of his bower; Heaven he goes out to meet him, brings him to his lodge, By us oft seen: his dewy locks distill'd entertains him with the choicest fruits of Para- Ambrosia; on that tree he also gaz'd; dise got together by Eve; their discourse at And O fair plant,' said he, with fruit surcharg'd, table: Raphael performs his message, minds Deigns none to ease thy load, and taste thy sweet, Adam of his state and of his enemy; relates, at Nor God, nor Man? Is knowledge so despis'd? Adam's request, who that enemy is, and how he Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste? came to be so, beginning from his first revolt in Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold Heaven, and the occasion thereof; how he drew Longer thy offer'd good; why else set here?' his legions after him to the parts of the north, This said, he paus'd not, but with venturous arm and there incited them to rebel with him, per- He pluck'd, he tasted; me damp horror chill'd suading all but only Abdiel a seraph, who in At such bold words vouch'd with a deed so bold: argument dissuades and opposes him, then for- But he thus, overjoy'd; 'O fruit divine, sakes him. Sweet of thyself, but much more sweet thus cropt, Forbidden here, it seems, as only fit

•

Now Morn, her rosy steps in the eastern clime
Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl,
When Adam wak'd, so custom'd; for his sleep
Was aery-light, from pure digestion bred,

For gods, yet able to make gods of men:
And why not gods of men; since good, the more
Communicated, more abundant grows,
The author not impair'd, but honor'd more?

Of fruit-trees over-woody reach'd too far
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
Their pamper'd boughs, and needed hands to check Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold
Fruitless embraces: or they led the vine
To wed her elm; she, spous'd, about him twines
Her marriageable arms, and with her brings
Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn
His barren leaves. Them thus employ'd beheld
With pity Heaven's high King, and to him call'd
Raphael, the sociable spirit, that deign'd
To travel with Tobias, and secur'd

And colors dipt in Heaven, the third his feet
Shadow'd from either heel with feather'd mail,
Sky-tinctur'd grain. Like Maia's son he stood,
And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance fill'd
The circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bands
Of angels under watch; and to his state,
And to his message high, in honor rise;
For on some message high they guess'd him bound
Their glittering tents he pass'd, and now is come
Into the blissful field, through groves of myrrh,
And flowering odors, cassia, nard, and balm;
A wilderness of sweets; for Nature here
Wanton'd as in her prime, and play'd at will
Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet,
Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss.
Him through the spicy forest onward come
Adam discern'd, as in the door he sat

Of his cool bower, while now the mounted Sun
Shot down direct his fervid rays to warm
Earth's inmost womb, more warmth than Adam
needs:

And Eve within, due at her hour prepar'd
For dinner savory fruits, of taste to please
True appetite, and not disrelish thirst
Of nectarous draughts between, from milky stream,
Berry or grape: to whom thus Adam call'd.

His marriage with the seventimes-wedded maid.
"Raphaël," said he, "thou hear'st what stir on

Earth

Satan, from Hell 'scap'd through the darksome gulf,
Hath rais'd in Paradise; and how disturb'd
This night the human pair; how he designs
In them at once to ruin all mankind.

Go therefore, half this day as friend with friend
Converse with Adam, in what bower or shade
Thou find'st him from the heat of noon retir'd,
To respite his day-labor with repast,
Or with repose: and such discourse bring on,
As may advise him of his happy state,
Happiness in his power left free to will,
Left to his own free will, his will though free,
Yet mutable; whence warn him to beware
He swerve not, too secure: tell him withal
His danger, and from whom; what enemy,
Late fall'n himself from Heaven, is plotting now
The fall of others from like state of bliss;
By violence? no, for that shall be withstood;
But by deceit and lies: this let him know,
Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend
Surprisal, unadmonish'd, unforewarn'd."

So spake the Eternal Father, and fulfill'd
All justice: nor delay'd the winged saint
After his charge receiv'd; but from among
Thousand celestial ardors, where he stood
Veil'd with his gorgeous wings up springing light
Flew through the midst of Heaven; the angelic
quires,
On each hand parting, to his speed gave way
Through all the empyreal road; till, at the gate
Of Heaven arriv'd, the gate self-open'd wide
On golden hinges turning, as by work
Divine the sovran Architect had fram'd.
From hence, no cloud, or, to obstruct his sight,
Star interpos'd, however small, he sees,
Not unconform to other shining globes,

Earth, and the garden of God, with cedars crown'd
Above all hills. As when by night the glass
Of Galileo, less assur'd, observes
Imagin'd lands and regions in the Moon:
Or pilot, from amidst the Cyclades
Delos or Samos first appearing, kens

A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flight
He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing,
Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan
Winnows the buxom air; till, within soar
Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems
A phoenix, gaz'd by all, as that sole bird,
When, to enshrine his relics in the Sun's
Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies.
At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise
He lights, and to his proper shape returns
A seraph wing'd: six wings he wore, to shade
His lineaments divine; the pair that clad
Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his breast
With regal ornament; the middle pair

"Haste hither, Eve, and worth thy sight behold
Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape
Comes this way moving; seems another morn
Ris'n on mid-noon; some great behest from Heaven
To us perhaps he brings, and will vouchsafe
This day to be our guest. But go with speed,
And, what thy stores contain, bring forth and pour
Abundance, fit to honor and receive
Our heavenly stranger; well we may afford
Our givers their own gifts, and large bestow
From large bestow'd, where Nature multiplies
Her fertile growth, and by disburdening grows
More fruitful, which instructs us not to spare."

To whom thus Eve. "Adam, Earth's hallow'd
mould,

Of God inspir'd! small store will serve, where store,
All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk;
Save what by frugal storing firmness gains
To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes:
But I will haste, and from each bough and brake,
Each plant and juiciest gourd, will pluck such
choice

To entertain our angel-guest, as he
Beholding shall confess, that here on Earth
God hath dispens'd his bounties as in Heaven."
So saying, with dispatchful looks in haste
She turns, on hospitable thoughts intent
What choice to choose for delicacy best,
What order so contriv'd as not to mix
Tastes, not well join'd, inelegant, but bring
Taste after taste upheld with kindliest change;
Bestirs her then, and from each tender stalk
Whatever Earth, all-bearing mother, yields
In India East or West, or middle shore
In Pontus or the Punic coast, or where
Alcinous reign'd, fruit of all kinds, in coat
Rough, or smooth rind, or bearded husk, or shell
She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
Heaps with unsparing hand; for drink the grape
She crushes, inoffensive must, and meaths
From many a berry, and from sweet kernels press'd
She tempers dulcet creams; nor these to hold

Undeck'd save with herself more lovely fair
Than wood-nymph, or the fairest goddess feign'd
Of three that in mount Ida naked strove,
Stood to entertain her guest from Heaven; no veil In Adam, not to let the occasion pass

As doth your rational; and both contain
Within them every lower faculty

Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste, Springs lighter the green
Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate,
And corporeal to incorporeal turn.

leaves

For know, whatever was created, needs
To be sustain'd and fed: of elements
The grosser feeds the purer, earth the sea,

To intellectual; give both life and sense,
Fancy and understanding; whence the soul
Reason receives, and reason is her being,
Discursive, or intuitive; discourse
Is oftest yours, the latter most is ours,
Differing but in degree, of kind the same.
Wonder not then, what God for you saw good
If I refuse not, but convert, as you,

To proper substance. Time may come, when men
With angels may participate, and find
No inconvenient diet, nor too light fare;
And from these corporal nutriments perhaps
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,
Improv❜d by tract of time, and, wing'd, ascend
Ethereal, as we: or may, at choice,
Here or in heavenly Paradises dwell;
If ye be found obedient, and retain
Unalterably firm his love entire,
Whose progeny you are. Meanwhile enjoy
Your fill what happiness this happy state
Can comprehend, incapable of more."

Hath pass'd in Heaven, some doubts within me

move,

But more desire to hear, if thou consent,
The full relation, which must needs be strange,
Worthy of sacred silence to be heard;
And we have yet large day, for scarce the Sun
Hath finish'd half his journey, and scarce begins
His other half in the great zone of Heaven."
Thus Adam made request: and Raphaël,
After short pause assenting, thus began.

"

"High matter thou enjoin'st me, O prime of men Sad task and hard: for how shall I relate

To whom the patriarch of mankind replied.
"O favorable spirit, propitious guest,
Well hast thou taught the way that might direct
Our knowledge, and the scale of nature set
From centre to circumference; whereon,
In contemplation of created things,

By steps we may ascend to God. But say,
What meant that caution join'd, If ye be found
Obedient? Can we want obedience then
To him, or possibly his love desert,
Who form'd us from the dust, and plac'd us here
Full to the utmost measure of what bliss

To human sense the invisible exploits

Of warring spirits? how, without remorse,
The ruin of so many glorious once

And perfect while they stood? how last unfold
The secrets of another world, perhaps

Not lawful to reveal? yet for thy good

This is dispens'd; and what surmounts the reach
Of human sense, I shall delineate so,

By likening spiritual to corporal forms,
As may express them best; though what if Earth
Be but the shadow of Heaven, and things therein
Each to other like, more than on Earth is thought?
"As yet this world was not, and Chaos wild
Reign'd where these Heavens now roll, where Earth

now rests

Upon her centre pois'd; when on a day
(For time, though in eternity, applied
To motion, measures all things durable
By present, past, and future,) on such day

As Heaven's great year brings forth, the empyreal

Human desires can seek or apprehend?"

host
Of angels by imperial summons call'd,

44

To whom the angel. Son of Heaven and Earth, Innumerable before the Almighty's throne, Attend that thou art happy, owe to God; Forthwith, from all the ends of Heaven, appear'd That thou continuest such, owe to thyself, Under their hierarchs in orders bright: That is, to thy obedience; therein stand. Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanc'd, This was that caution given thee, be advis'd. Standards and gonfalons 'twixt van and rear God made thee perfect, not immutable; Stream in the air, and for distinction serve And good he made thee; but to persevere Of hierarchies, of orders, and degrees; He left it in thy power; ordain'd thy will Or in their glittering tissues bear emblaz'd By nature free, not over-rul'd by fate Holy memorials, acts of zeal and love Inextricable, or strict necessity: Recorded eminent. Thus when in orbs Our voluntary service he requires, Of circuit inexpressible they stood, Not our necessitated; such with him Orb within orb, the Father Infinite, Finds no acceptance, nor can find; for how By whom in bliss embosom'd sat the Son, Can hearts, not free, be tried whether they serve Amidst as from a flaming mount, whose top Willing or no, who will but what they must Brightness had made invisible, thus spake. By destiny, and can no other choose? Hear, all ye angels, progeny of light, Myself, and all the angelic host, that stand Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers, In sight of God enthron'd, our happy state Hear my decree, which unrevok'd shall stand. Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds; This day I have begot whom I declare On other surety none: freely we serve, My only Son, and on this holy hill Because we freely love, as in our will To love or not; in this we stand or fall: And some are fall'n, to disobedience fall'n, And so from Heaven to deepest Hell; O fall From what high state of bliss, into what woe!"

646

To whom our great progenitor. "Thy words
Attentive, and with more delighted ear,
Divine instructer, I have heard, than when
Cherubic songs by night from neighboring hills
Aerial music send: nor knew I not
To be both will and deed created free;
Yet that we never shall forget to love
Our Maker, and obey him whose command
Single is yet so just, my constant thoughts

Him have anointed, whom ye now behold
At my right hand; your head I him appoint;
And by myself have sworn, to him shall bow
All knees in Heaven, and shall confess him Lord:
Under his great vicegerent reign abide
United, as one individual soul,
For ever happy: him who disobeys,
Me disobeys, breaks union, and that day,
Cast out from God and blessed vision, falls
Into utter darkness, deep ingulf'd, his place
Ordain'd without redemption, without end.'

"So spake the Omnipotent, and with his words All seem'd well pleas'd; all seem'd, but were not all That day, as other solemn days, they spent

Assur'd me, and still assure: though what thou In song and dance about the sacred hill:
Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere

tell'st